Seriously, does a day without a regular caffeine fix do this to you? I wonder….
Local department store has our regular January sales every year, you know, if you read back to a previous post, how I turned from a friendly, considerate, kind and generous woman to an absolutely mental, evil, demon of a stalker, who watched every move this woman made, who had this yarn that I HAD to have. who wouldn’t put it down, who wondered around and asked the sales rep what she could knit with it, who flipped through pattern books and all the time, me, watching every move from the corner of my eye, who had a partner in crime watch her too…..remember? As soon as she put it back, hands, several hands, mine and my accomplice grabbed it before anyone else did. I’m happy to say, this years sale was different. Maybe it was without the caffeine fix. I was calm, very calm, very unusual for me and so not me.
There before my eyes, lay a full bag of this purple yarn, in fact two bags. Yup…purple. OK I love purple, alot, to admire and ooh and ahhhh, but to wear? It’s totally out of my colour palette. But this purple was different, it wasn’t too bright, too in your face, it was calm, warm and oozing with yumminess. This purple yarn was calling me…..Yarnsnob, I’m yours…..take me home. Was this yarn actually talking to me? Has yarn ever talked to you? For brief moment, I thought I was going crazy!
So under my arm it went and without a moment hesitation or a fight with anyone else, went to the cashier, handed over my credit card and so home it came with me.
I had a project in mind for it but strangely and totally out of the ordinary, I SWATCHED. I NEVER SWATCH, seriously, I do not swatch for anything. I consider myself a very very naughty knitter, so please do not, I repeat do not follow my in my footsteps. To make this more out of the ordinary, I blocked the swatch and waited for it to dry and to make it even more out of the ordinary, I counted the stitches one by one over and over again! Now I do believe something was totally wrong with me that day.
The purple yarn, or should I say Aubergine became this…..
Alexandria Cardigan a pattern I’ve longed to knit. It required an icord at the front…never attempted before, short rows for the sleeves, done once and messed up with my Arwen cardigan, picking up stitches from 3 rows down and BO together to create a kind of rolled edge effect for the sleeves and neckline, which I did for the sleeves but did and icord bind off for the neckline.
So, a little about this yarn. Rowan had a batch of previously discontinued undyed Organic Merino DK and as one off special, dyed colours exclusively for the John Lewis chain of stores throughout UK for the 2010 January sales.
Changes made to the pattern?
Neckline: icord BO
Sleeves: 11 inches before start of eyelet
Dec: ssk ( slipped 1 knitwise, slipped 1 purlwise, ktog) (nice and ne
Inc: picked up st from row below from the back and knit (almost invisible inc)
Omit the first row of cluster pattern so the front panels lay flat
Maybe I should stay off the caffeine? It certainly had a very weird effect on me, I must say!











January 31st, 2011 at 7:04 pm
That color is divine. And the pattern is gorgeous!
January 31st, 2011 at 9:38 pm
Thank you!
January 31st, 2011 at 9:43 pm
The colour is not as bright as the photos, much more delicate, thank you
January 31st, 2011 at 7:27 pm
Joli, joli!!!!!!!!!!!!I am drooling!!!!!!!
January 31st, 2011 at 9:43 pm
January 31st, 2011 at 8:43 pm
I loved your cardie so much that I’ve just gone and purchased the pattern myself. Thanks for the recommendation – you should be on commission ;0)
John Lewis is great for yarn, but have you tried House of Fraser? They sell wool at some fantastic prices. I picked up 20 balls of Rowan Felted Tweed yesterday (in 2 different colours) for only £30, instead of £110 that they should have been.
Happy knitting.
January 31st, 2011 at 9:25 pm
Isn’t it lovely, I do like that purple and the pattern looks so nice!
January 31st, 2011 at 9:42 pm
Thanks Linda
February 1st, 2011 at 1:30 am
I think it’s absolutely beautiful! Great color!
February 1st, 2011 at 1:58 am
Wow, what an amazing sweater – it’s your usual amazing work!!
February 1st, 2011 at 3:14 am
Wow!! Nice cardi! Nice pictures too!
February 1st, 2011 at 4:02 am
now,that may be worth fighting over..
no caffeine??-lol!
beautiful…oh,so beautifulxx
February 1st, 2011 at 10:50 am
Wow!So pretty! I know you love it
February 1st, 2011 at 2:03 pm
it is absolutely gorgeous!
February 1st, 2011 at 2:14 pm
Absolutely delicious…do you ever sleep?
You’re the fastest and most prolific knitter ever…amazing!
February 1st, 2011 at 2:40 pm
Absolutely beautiful!
February 3rd, 2011 at 10:31 pm
Gorgeous!! What a beautiful knit!
Was meant to be from the start of your shopping day.
February 4th, 2011 at 12:15 pm
Wow, that sweater is gorgeous. It was great to stroll through and see all the great knits…you are light years ahead of me with your skills and patience. We need to chat sometime soon and catch up.
February 4th, 2011 at 9:53 pm
that is a lovely subtle but pretty colour, and beautiful knitting.